Spinner



May 8, i945.

F. MARSHfiLL SPINNER 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jul 8, 1941 y 8, 1945. F. G. MARSHALL 2,375,673

SPINNER Filed July 8, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 8, 1945. F. G. MARSHALL SPINNER 3 sheets-sheet 3 Filed July 8, 1941 Patented May 8,1945

S P INNER Marshall, I Leamington Spa,

Frederick George England, gnorto Constant Speed Airs crews 3 Limited, Warwick, England 1 v Application July 8, 1941, Serial No. 401,534 In Great Britain September 11, 1940 2 Claims. (c1. no-r59) This invention relates to a spinner-for an airscrew or propeller of aircraft and its primary field of use will be as the spinner. for the rear member of. tandem .airscrews orfpropellers, although it is not restricted to such use and may be used wherever its construction permits The primary objects of this invention aregto provide a spinner having; its shell or periphery split longitudinally into .a plurality of arcuate sections movable radially of the axis of the air. screw or propeller or laterally of the rotating propeller or airscrew shaft or hub; toprovide cooperating plates or parts or members secured to the hub and flanges or parts ormembers connected respectively with the respective sections of the spinner shell in combinationwith means I spinner taken on the line cd of Figurel, and i showing one part or section thereof removed from cording to one way of carrying out the present invention.

Figure 2 is a, detail view on .the line d-bin Figure 1 of the locking ring for the front spinner.

Figure; 3 is a cross-sectional view of the rear its support. it i Figure 4 is a view in axial plane section of the rear spinner taken on the line e-f of Figure 1, and showing one part or section thereof disengaged from its support.

. Figures 5 and a are detail side and sectional views respectively of the device employed to pre for interlocking these parts or members by a simple and quick manipulation whereby the spin thereto to rotate therewith or may be released and removed insections from said hub.

Since the primary field of useconteinplated for the invention is as-the rear spinner for a tandem airscrew usually. of two oppositely rotating co-axial propellers, the inventionis herein described and illustrated as so used or applied. Spinners of the kind herein] referred toembodying'the present invention are characterized by the provision of attachment means anclby a form of construction for the rear spinner whereby each of the two spinner shells can beiassembled about and removed from the hubs of their respective airscrews. without involving the removal of either of the airscrews from their shafts. i

For the purposes of assembly and removal the rear spinner shell is made in two or more parts or sections provided with readily releasable means of attachment to one another and to supports carried by the hub or shaft part of the rear airr The two spinners may be adaptedfor attacht ment either to the front or to the. rear end of their respective airscrew hubs, the attachment means in any case being preferably such that each spinner can be secured in position and released therefrom at a number of points by means of fastening devices arranged for simultaneous or individual operation. Q y V The front spinner may. beer the orthodox aerodynamical shape and the rear spinner formed as acontinuation of'said shape.

Inthe accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of spinners for contra-wise airscrews mounted acner shell may be mounted onthe hub and locked I vent accidentaldisplacement of the locking member; a i

Figure '7 illustrates a key for use in moving the locking member into and outjof its operative position. i t i Referring to the drawings, 2 and 3 represent the two oppositely rotating airscrews which are coaxiallyfarranged and have their respective shafts. drivenin any suitable manner from the.

engine. 4 and 5 are the two spinners which rotatein opposite directions and are attachedto their respectiveairscrews. r y X H The front spinner 4 may. either be made in one piece by'a spinning operation in the usual way; i or. maybe of a built-up construction and inany case is of the orthodox aerodynamical shape substantially as shown. w y M The rear spinner is divided longitudinallyinto two parts or sections 5 5 andis shaped toform a continuation of that of the front spinner.

Each spinner or spinner part maybe mounted and driven in the manner described inthe specification of British Patent No.;451,553.1or as described in the specification of British Patent No.

485,903,.that is to say, each spinner or spinner part can either be driven from the rear of the hub of its respective airscrew or, as shown, from the frontthereof, and in both cases can be supported by the usualffront and rear diaphragms,

or, by means of spoked members in the manner described in our co-pending British application NC. 6,139 of 1940.

In the example shown in the drawings, thefront spinner 4. is adapted for attachment to a back plate 6,, at a, number ofpoints simultaneously. The said back plate 6 is secured to the rear of the hub l of the front airscrew andis formed with an annular series of equallyspaced holes a and the inwardly flanged rear edge of the skirt of the spinner is provided with a series of pins 9 corresponding to number and spacing with the by the usual filling pieces attached to'the back plate. The spinner is pushed into position in.

two parts 5 so that it can be readily removed an axial direction over the hub 2, the pins 9 thereon protruding through. the holes 8 in the back plate and establishing a driving connection in the spinner or in a flange attached thereto.

In either case the pins may be locked in engage ment with their holes by means of a locking member consisting of a ring [3 formed with a series of key-hole slots 14, see Figure 2, correspending in number and spacing with the pins 9. In the specific example shown the locking ring is carried by the back plate 6, being attached thereto by means of a series of screws l5 passing through parallel slots [6 in the locking ring so as to allow for a limited angular movement of the said ring relatively to the back plate. The protruding ends of the pins 9 are each formed with an annular groove IT and the arrangement is such that when the spinner has been pushed into position on the hub with the pins protruding through the holes 8 in the back plate, the spinner can be instantly locked to the latter by'rotating the locking ring I3 in a direction to'bring the edges of the narrow portions of the.keyhole slots I4 into engagement with the grooves IT in the protruding ends of the pins. Conversely, a movement of rotation of the locking ring in the reverse direction will bring the large ends of the keyhole slots into register with the pins thereby enabling the spinner to be instantly detached.

' manner. Forexample, the ring'may be provided with a finger piece or, as shown. in connection withthe rear spinner, may be operated by means of a key [8 having a forked end. For this purpose a pivot pin, I9 is provided on the back plate to receive the forked end of the key which when inserted engages between a pair of stops 20 on the locking ring so that by moving the key about its pivot in one direction or the other the ring is rotated into or out of its operative position.

In order to provide against accidentaldisplacement of the locking ring from its operative or looking position as the result of vibration or other causes, a detent, such as a blade spring 2| car-, ried by the back plate is arranged to engage between the said stops 20 when the locking ring is in its operative position. When the key is. inserted through a slot 33 in the wallof the spinner the blade spring is lifted thereby out of engagement with the stops thus leaving the ring free to be moved into the inoperative position.

The key may also function as a safety device by means of an arrangement whereby the key can be inserted and withdrawn only when the locking ring is in its operative position. For this purpose the forked end of the key is formed with a notch 22 adapted when the locking ring has been moved thereby into the inoperative position, as seen'in-Figure 5, to engage an upturned flange 23 on a plate 24 attached to the ring. When the locking ring is turned by the key into its operative position the notch is clear of the flange and the key can be withdrawn. The said plate can, if desired, be formed with a limiting stop 24 to engage the pivot pin when the locking ring is in its operative position.

The rear spinner 5 which rotates with the rear airscrew 3 and in a contrary direction to the front spinner is shown as divided longitudinally into and replaced independently of the front spinner and without dismantling the airscrews. The said rear spinner parts are detachably mounted on and between front and back plates 25, 26 attached tothe hub or shaft of the rear airscrew and the means of attachment may, as shown, be similar to those above suggested for the front spinner, that is to say, by means of pins 9 carried by flanges secured to the front and rear ends of the spinner part engaging holes 8 in the front and back plates. Thelocking means may also be similar except that in this case each part of the divided rear spinner will have its own locking member I3 As shown, the two parts of this spinner are driven from both ends of the rear hub 21 but, ifdesired, they can be driven from one end only of the hub in which case the other ends of the two parts can have a sliding engagementwiththeir supporting plate. In the arrangement shown the two parts of the spinner are'detached' from their supports by first moving the locking member H3 in each case into the inoperative position to release the pins 9* from their holes 8 Each spinner part is then moved axially to an extent sufficient for the pins to clear the holes, as shown in the upper part of Figure 4, after which the spinner parts can be removed in a lateral direction, as represented at the left hand side of Figure 3.

In order to relievethe improved spinners .of radial, torsional and other stresses and to damp out vibration rubber strips 30 or like cushioning means may be arranged between the spinner shells and their supports as shown, or the relief of suchstresses and the damping out of. vibration maybe accomplished by any one of a number of suitable known ways and means.

Rubber strips 32 or other cushioning means may also be inserted between the flanged edges of the filling pieces 28 and the adjacent flanged edges of the gaps I I or 29 in the spinner or spinner parts.

I claim:

1. A spinner for a rotating airscrew having a hub, said spinner comprising a shell'composed of a plurality of separately detachable independent longitudinally extending sections adapted for assembly-radially about said hub, and means for connecting said sections in assembled relation independently of each other, said means-including radially extending elements carried by and rotatable with the hub for supporting said shell sections thereon, and separate independent radially inwardly extending cooperating elements connected with each shell section and means for detachably and drivably connecting said elements carried by the hub with said elements connected with the shell sections.

2. A spinner for a rotating airscrew having a hub, said spinner comprising a shell composed of 'rality of pins carried by the other set of said elenients and corresponding in number to the number of said holes and extending thereintoin the separate independent radially extending cooperating elements on each shell section and said hub, one set of said elements being formed with a, plurality of peripherally arranged holes having axes extending parallel to the axis of said hub;

in combination with fastening means for detachably and drivably connecting both sets of said elementssaid fastening means comprising a pludriving relation of said elements, and a locking means for releasably securing said pins in such position. FREDERICK GEORGE MARSHALL. 

